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Our pal Marc is back with another guest post! Marc watches a lot of movies and reviews them on TwoOhSix.com all while defying the conventions of what a “movie critic” is typically supposed to be.

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Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow Pictures have joined forces with the Lego Company to produce a movie featuring their iconic products. This animated 3D movie features the voice talents of Chris Pratt, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Charlie Day, Will Forte, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders, Channing Tatum, and Morgan Freeman and was directed by Phile Lord and Christopher Miller.

The Lego Movie is a story about Emmett (Pratt), an extremely ordinary Lego figure who follows instructions and believes that everything about life is awesome. He goes about living each day following precise routines and, while he does well at his job and stays out of trouble, Emmett seems to have trouble making any real friends or developing much of an identity for himself. Even so, everything is awesome for Emmett, at least until a young woman named Wild Style (Banks) enters his life and turns his whole world upside down.

After what might be just a slight misunderstanding, Emmett is declared to be the prophesied “Master Builder” who is meant to save the Lego universe from the evil villain Lord Business. Wild Style then brings him to meet with the wizard Vitruvius (Freeman) who assembles a team of heroes including Batman (Arnett), an astronaut, and the Unikitty (Alison Brie)! Thus begins an adventure that will take Emmett to places her never dreamt of where he will do things he never thought possible…at least without the help of an instruction manual.

Whenever a new film franchise is launched, especially ones based on beloved childhood toys, I am always a little skeptical about how much care went into making a quality movie or if its just another corporate money grab. In the case of The Lego Movie; fans, moviegoers, and studio executives will all be very happy with the final product as the writing and directing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller hit the ground running on what should be a very successful series of Lego movies (A sequel has already been green lit).

What you will notice right away, is how faced paced and fun this movie is. At an hour and 40 minutes, the run time toes the line of being a bit long for a kids movie, but honestly, this thing flies by so fast, the credits will start rolling before you have a chance to catch your breath from laughing so much. The main thing I loved about the story is how wonderfully smart and witty it is without digging into the typical bathroom humor bag of tricks that animated movies sometimes fall into. There are also so many surprises, twists, and turns, that you will want to see it multiple times to take everything in.

The one thing I have to warn you about is regarding a song whose title and hook, “Everything is Awesome!” will get stuck in your head for at least a week after you watch the movie. Even so, it will do nothing but bring back memories of how much fun you had watching The Lego Movie and it might just get you back into the theater to watch it again. If you’re interested in whether or not you should spend the extra money for the 3D experience, I would say its not mandatory although it was very well done. There is really nothing else I have to complain about with this movie. Gather your family, friends, and/or loved ones and go check this movie out. Everything is Awesome!